Rachel Boekel Photography Blog » brooks

Graduation Photography :: Brooks Alberta ::

rachel — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:52:26 +0000

L, J & K all graduated this past weekend.
I woke up on Saturday to light rain and these crazy beautiful clouds… threatening rain clouds.
I had my fingers crossed that they would just hover in the background until my sessions were over. No rain please.
Lucky we were. During the commencement ceremonies the thunder and lightning struck, perfect timing!
The rest of the day was picture perfect, as were these girls (and their dates)! Congratulations to all of you and good luck in your next adventures.

What luck we had with the clouds! L and her date were rocking it and I am crazy about the last images of the bunch.

J had her whole family with her for grad; aunts, uncles, grandparents, they were all there.
We spent time photographing in the families backyard. I adore her smile and her for being a trooper
in the beginning with the light rain, before the sun came out.

AND, K!
We had a few minutes to capture these photos before the dinner, dance and party started.
It was a long day for the graduates.
We found an closed in area in a local park and I think K looks like the princess of the forest!

T & D and Family Sessions :: Duchess Family Photography ::

rachel — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:40:11 +0000

I was pretty excited when T & D won my gift certificate at this years bridal show in Brooks.
They had great energy when I talked to them at the show and were enthusiastic about photography.
VERY unfortunately I cannot photograph their wedding in September
FORTUNATELY Shannon will be! She’s awesome. I met Shannon at WPPI this year and think she’s got pretty rad style.

We did some fun engagement shots and included their girls for some family shots as well.
What a heavenly evening full of sunshine and warmth. After having to rebook this session twice, the third time really was the charm.
Duchess is just north of Brooks and has a ton of neat streets, yards and areas to photograph.
Oh and some pretty great people Thanks for the great evening!

Um… those are some pretty pretty eyes!

Family of Four! :: Brooks Alberta Family Photographer ::

rachel — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:20:47 +0000

This first image is probably my favorite family photo. of. all. time.
It just has so much fun and silliness that a 2 year old can bring to a photo and a great family to boot.
I enjoy every second that I get to spend photographing this family and it always goes by way too quickly.
Grandma was here for a visit so we got her in as well!

D and J are engaged! :: Rainier Wedding Photographer ::

rachel — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:12:57 +0000

We were supposed to photograph on Valentines Day, which I later learnt is when these two first met.
Unfortunately it was windy enough to blow you out of town, so we rescheduled.
I promise you we haven’t seen the sun for weeks in Brooks. WEEKS! But it made no difference yesterday. These two were wonderful.
They brought their own brightness.

I had spotted some locations a while ago while I was be – bopping through Rainier. Sometimes it’s hard to get in touch with people
to gain access to their land or yards. Luckily for me J had access to all these places and we could clamber up grain bins and into yards
without getting yelled at. Or, people giving us quizzical looks. Most often it’s the quizzical looks and questions.

D and J are getting married in a corn field in August.
I love my adventurous clients!

This is a favorite for sure.

This is heavily inspired by an image Brittany Esther took at our wedding.

A stop in Rainier is never complete without a stop at The Oasis gas bar.

The O Family :: Brooks Alberta Family Photographer ::

rachel — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:40:18 +0000

Oh dear blog readers…. I do apologize.
I have been all over the map lately, and with a cold to boot. I’m starting to come around again.

These images were all taken in January. Can you believe it.
Being able to go outside, especially with a little guy, in January is something that doesn’t happen in Alberta.
We had a warm spell. It was a relief from the -30C week. That is when these images were captured.

Such a fun family. We just hung out around their place. I’m jealous about all of their trees!

Thank you for having me out!

Holidays :: Brooks Alberta Photographer ::

rachel — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:00:59 +0000

I am loving the holidays.
Not only was Christmas day insanely beautiful in Brooks, today was a whole other gift of a day.
The fog lifted and left us shimmering with the frost. It was a bright day.
We spent it skating, playing hockey and eating lots of combined leftovers.
A good day.

Here is our tree in the snow and an image from the early start of the day.
Hope you all had a very merry Christmas.

I feel like I’m saying: ” HEY! look what I found!” I really have no idea why I pointed to the tree. It just happened.
I liked it’s perfectly framed shadow.

Merry Christmas :: Alberta Photographer ::

rachel — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:47:05 +0000

4 more sleeps.
I’m all about counting sleeps. I don’t have a proper calendar on my fridge but if I did I would be crossing off days
with green and red pens. I love to colour co-ordinate things. I was that girl in high school who had a pencil case full of
pens. Pens for math, pens for notes, pens for writing in the margins… you get the point. Good pens. Hmmm.

Totally off topic.

I’m excited to be taking a break for the holidays and to catch up on time with family and friends.
If you are trying to get a hold of me for sessions or orders I will be out of the office until January 3rd.
I’ll do my best to return emails etc, but I’m also going to be doing my best to skate, ski and have snowball fights for as many days
in a row as possible. (Anyone in for a snowball fight?)
We’re sticking around for the holidays this year and it’s going to be glorious!

Here’s a little photo to start off my holidays. This little guy was one of the easiest babies I’ve ever photographed.
I desperately wanted to snuggle and cuddle and nibble at his toes but I focused and photographed him instead. It wasn’t easy.
I’ll be blogging sporadically the next two weeks but not every day.
Merry Christmas!

Winter Wedding Sneak :: Brooks Alberta Wedding Photographer ::

rachel — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:46:44 +0000

Remember on Saturday when I said I was heading out in -20C to photograph a wedding?
It was actually more like minus one hundred degrees celsius!! I’m serious. It was that cold. I had ice form on the back of my camera.
Raise your hand if you have had ice form from your breath on your LCD panel?

It was probably colder for the groom and two of his groomsmen who are from Australia.
May I comment on how amazing they were to photograph. They were there for Jill and Michael 100% and despite us
running in and out of the house every 2 minutes, literally, they smiled and joked and were amazing.

I get to work with the best people. People who in -28C (okay so I exaggerated a bit before) actually wanted to take photos outside!

Here are a few of the bundled Bride and Groom. Stay warm!

We headed into the barn for a few too. It was supposed to be warmer in there but I’m not so sure.

Little Ms. B :: Brooks Alberta Kids Photography ::

rachel — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:08:49 +0000

The time this session took from phone call to end of session was about 45 minutes.
Ms. B is so herself. She is at that age of kicking snow, playing, having fun and making snow angels… in a skirt!
What a great way to spend 45 minutes; photographing the happiness of playing in the snow!

I love the way these images feel, they are so bright and calm.

B’s loyal and constant companion is Gussy. He’s a reliable and totally lovable dog.

Nothing like sparkly snow on a fresh winters day!

The Briggs Family :: Brooks, Alberta Family Photography ::

rachel — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:47:45 +0000

I know, I know… I am supposed to be loving to love today and oh boy I am. No buts or anything.
I haven’t had a lot of luck uploading this week, some web difficulties and have therefore missed about…oh… 3 posts.
I wanted to catch up a little and tomorrow I’ll show the love.

Fall sessions are so much fun, especially with kids (even if it’s grey and dreary.) Tons of leaves to throw around and trouble to get into.
I had been looking forward to this session because we had planned it so far in advance and finally it arrived. Hooray!

I’m starting something new today too. Something that I saw on Diane Schuller’s Blog.
If a blog post receives 7 + comments then the family/couple/person etc. featured will receive a 8×10 print free.

I sneaked this a few weeks ago.
At long last, the official Brigg post!

This little guy was just a blast. He was running and climbing and keeping me on my toes.

These two are my favorites. There is a lot of laughter and joy in these moments, which is something I strive to catch in all my session.